Do The Stars Gaze Back?
by MoonAboveEdinburgh
Summary: "I think the candle is meant to help you find him," Persephone said. "Find who?" "Your true love." Stardust AU featuring Adam as a man desperate to win over his "true love" by bringing her a star out of the night sky. Naturally, that star is Ronan Lynch.
1. Chapter 1

Persephone twisted the delicate silver chain around her pinky finger. She attempted to use it to tie up her white hair from where the locks kissed the ground but, as always, the chain was just short.

 _That's right._ She thought to herself, _not for hair, but for binding_. Forlornly, she looked from where the chain was unbreakably wrapped around her pale ankle to where it kept her bound to the caravan which she now stood beside. Sometimes it was easy for Persephone to get drawn in by the chain's magic and forget that that magic was used to keep her from freedom.

Tonight the chain drew her in more than usual as she stood amidst the bustling night market. She always loved magic, it called to her - but even moreso tonight, as this market was in the nonmagical village of Henrietta, and the only magic to be found here was the objects that surrounded Persephone. She vaguely recalled that her captor expected her to sell these objects, but Persephone never could keep her mind in one place.

At that moment, her captor tugged harshly on the chain to capture Persephone's attention.

"I'm going to get a drink," Piper Greenmantle huffed, seemingly annoyed at Persephone's very presence, as usual, "Make sure you sell all this stuff. Or don't. Whatever. These idiots never see magic, they'll eat it up." And with that Piper's figure disappeared into the night's crowd.

As Persephone watched her leave, her attention was caught by a small boy standing away, under the shadow of an old oak tree. He leaned against the edge of the wall that separated the village from beyond, from Cabeswater, Persephone's home, and a land of magic. Persephone could see the longing in the young boy's eyes, as his mind drifted beyond the mindless chatter and bustling crowds of the world of Henrietta.

 _Underfed_ , Persephone thought, looking at his boney body that made him look years younger than he likely was.

 _Underloved_ , she thought, looking at the aching in his blue eyes as he gazed out at the world beyond this village.

"IDIOT BOY!" A large man appeared beside the boy, the scent of whiskey on his breathe clear even from where Persephone stood. The man grabbed the young boy by the scruff of his neck, throwing him bodily to the ground. "Get up, boy. Quit mooning." The boy obeyed, scrambling to his feet, his eyes downcast.

 _Does he not realize that the boy is magic?_ For years she had been kept a captive, away from her magical home, yet still Persephone could not understand how easily these people overlooked the magic that was right before them.

With a final scoff at his son, the man headed back into the crowd, following in the steps of Piper, back towards the bar.

With a final longing gaze beyond the wall, the young boy began to walk back into the market.

"Excuse me," Persephone whispered as the boy passed. He turned, fixing his blue eyes on her. As he gazed at her, the caravan, and the chain that bound her, his eyes widened. Smiling gently, Persephone waved the child closer. As he approached, she reached deep into the yellow caravan and felt around until her hand touched what she was looking for.

She kneeled down before him and held out the large black candle.

"I believe that this is yours." But the boy just continued to gaze in wonder at Persephone.

"No, ma'am, I'm sorry, but that-that's not mine. I have no money to give you for it." He had a strong accent, which Persephone's distantly decided she liked.

"No money. It's already yours, or it will be. Or rather has been." She lifted his small hand and wrapped it around the candle. "Time is not a line." The boy held the candle close to his chest as though it's black was that of a baby raven.

"I think the candle is meant to help you find him," Persephone told him.

"Find who?"

"Your true love."


	2. Chapter 2

TEN YEARS LATER

"Victoria!"

Adam stared up at the latched window above him, brick and ivy between himself on the ground and his true love. The window did not budge. Adam Parrish was painfully shy, which, as is often the manner of the painfully shy, he overcompensated for by being too loud at the wrong times. "Victoria!"

Finally, the window swung open and an angelic face, haloed in golden hair leaned out. "Tad?" Victoria called, her eyes falling from the stars above to the ground where Adam stood, alone.

"Oh," Victoria's smile fell, replaced by a look that was equal parts annoyed and dismissing, "Hi, Adam. Did I leave something at the shop?"

"N-no! I just thought I'd bring y —" Adam was interrupted by the spontaneous explosion of the white roses he clutched, intended as a gift for the woman above him. Or rather, he was interrupted by a walking stick beheading his flowers. _There goes 2 pounds, half a day's work_.

Adam turned to see the abusing walking stick gripped in the hands of Tad Carruthers. _Of course._

"Adam Parrish? Shopboy by day, peeping tom by night?" Tad scoffed, sizing Adam up and clearly finding him lacking. Adam was suddenly very aware of the dirt on his clothes from a day spent manning shop at Boyd's, contrasting Tad's stark white suit jacket. He was aware of how his hair was too like dust, how his bones were too prominent in his face — how Tad's hair was the same gold as Victoria's, how money and nourishment kept Tad's bones on the inside, where they belonged.

"Are those for Victoria?" Tad toed at the roses which were now browned and buried in the dirt. He chuckled to himself.

Adam felt his temper rise at being treated, again, as lesser than because Henrietta was full of boys like Tad, who glided by on their parents' money. _I'll show him Adam Parrish is not one to be toyed with. That Adam Parrish is worthy of a crush, worthy of Victoria._

Adam grabbed a long stick from the bushes beneath Victoria's window, and brandished it like a sword, pointed right at Tad. Before Adam could even think to strike properly, Tad had used his walking stick to disarm Adam and smack him behind the knees. Adam hit the dirt, hard. _Brilliant, Parrish, getting knocked on your ass is the way to win Victoria over._

"You never were good at fencing at Aglionby, Parrish. In fact, I can't remember anything you _were_ good at," Tad loomed above him, smirking.

"Oh, Tad, leave him alone. He's just a boy," Victoria called softly from above him. Adam could hear the slight smile in her voice and it made him hate himself. With a final bemused look down at Adam, and a bow towards Victoria's windows, Tad strutted back into the night.

Adam pushed himself to his feet, already sore. Victoria was still perched in her window, her head propped in her hands, gazing up at the star-filled sky. With Tad gone it seemed she had slipped back into boredom. "He's amazing, isn't he?" Victoria didn't seem to be speaking to Adam, but he held his breathe, praying that she was speaking of him.

She finally seemed to notice the shop boy still standing beneath her window. She gazed down at Adam, the disdainful look returned to her face. "Tad, I mean."

Adam felt his heart fall to the dirt beneath his tired feet.

"He's going to Ipswich to buy me a ring, you know." Victoria fawned, as if a trip ten miles away from their tiny village was the ultimate sign of romance.

" _Ipswich?!_ " Adam cried, "Victoria, I'm going to go so much further than Ipswich. I'm

going to go to London, to Paris, to Cabeswater! I won't be trapped here in Henrietta forever!" Adam paused, his initial temper dipping as he finally took in Victoria's words. "A ring? You're not going to marry Tad?"

Still gazing upward, Victoria sighed, annoyed. "He's going to _Ipswich_ , Adam." She seemed to find that explanation enough.

Adam followed his love's gaze up to the inky darkness above them, broken up only by the countless silver stars. Desperate to win her heart, win her hand, Adam cried, "Victoria, for you I would take a star out of the sky if it meant you would marry me."

It seems Adam had finally, finally caught Victoria's attention as she dropped her gaze down to him. One would say that she smirked, but through Adam's love-clouded gaze it was an angel's smile.

"Okay, Adam. If you get me a star, I'll let you marry me." Despite the dirt on his feet, on his clothes, in the color of his skin and hair, Adam Parrish finally felt that he was worth something. To have the hand of a woman like Victoria, would finally show everyone, as well as himself, that Adam Parrish was worthy.

"But do it in a week's time. I don't like waiting." She added, already impatient, before closing and latching the window, disappearing into the warmth of her room.

In the shadows beneath her window, Adam was glowing. As if to confirm the newly lit flame inside him, something in Adam's chest began to burn, warm. He reached into the inner pocket of his jacket, extracting the black candle he had kept stowed away, hidden from his father, since he was eight years old. It had never done anything in all those years, but its sudden, inexplicable warmth confirmed to Adam that he was right to bring it tonight, the night that he would win over his true love, Victoria.

Adam did not know what the candle did, or how it would help him get past the impassable wall, let alone get a star. But as he fled through the night, headed for the gate between Henrietta and the magical village of Cabeswater, Adam Parrish could swear the night stars were shining brighter, guiding him on his journey.


End file.
